1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to a material handling system and more particularly, to a narrow belt conveyor system including a cost effective sorter that allows articles or loads to change from one conveyor segment to an adjacent segment.
2. Related Art
Narrow belt conveyor systems use multiple, continuously moving parallel belts for conveying flat bottom objects or loads along conveyor segments, particularly straight runs. Narrow belt conveyor systems are often used in conjunction with accessories such as sorters, transfers, accumulators, and/or diverters. The plurality of narrow belts and the spaces between the belts allow a sorter to be placed within the frame of the relevant conveyor segment, and selectively extend upward between the plurality of narrow belts to change the direction of conveyed loads, such as to an adjacent conveyor segment. More specifically, such sorters typically move from a retracted position that is beneath the top surface of the conveyor belts to an extended position slightly above the top surface of the narrow belts so that the sorter may engage the underside of the loads to change their travel direction. Such narrow belt sorters may include rollers or wheels.
Narrow belt conveyors are popular because of their versatility. In particular, they allow easy modification of the placement of various sorters, accumulators, transfers, and/or diverters to suit an operator's changing need. More specifically, a sorter may be placed anywhere along the travel path of the narrow belts, specifically under the linear segment of the narrow belts. Therefore, the conveyor system may have an original position at an original transfer point and, if it is desirable to move the transfer point or reconfigure the potential travel paths by repositioning various conveyor segments, the sorter may be easily moved to a new transfer point. One major issue with moving narrow belt sorters is that the rollers and wheels of the narrow belt sorter typically require substantial amounts of power to move the loads at an angle relative to the primary conveyor segment. More specifically, the sorter must quickly rise to its desired height above the individual belts, and at the same time, the rollers must be quickly spun up to the desired speed to quickly shift the load to an adjacent conveyor segment. As used in this application, the term “primary segment” is the segment including the sorter, and the conveyor segments to which the sorter passes the various loads are referred to as “adjacent segments”. A conveyor system may include multiple primary segments, and any adjacent segments, if it includes a sorter, may becoming the primary segment when the load is transferred from the primary to the subsequent adjacent segment. Some sorters may be configured to sort objects off either side of the primary conveyor segment, as illustrated in FIG. 1, which requires quick changes in the direction of rotation of the load rollers.
One major issue with sorters is the required quick increase in rotational speed of the load rollers and the change in rotational directions of the load rollers is power intensive. Most sorters require a 240 or a 480 volt electrical line to an electrical motor to drive the load rollers. Electrical motors capable of driving the load rollers are expensive, thereby raising the initial product cost. During installation, electrical power must be run to the location of each sorter, which is a major component of the installation costs. Installation of the required circuits, conduit lines and outlets is expensive, both from a material cost and additional time requirements to complete installation. In addition, if changes are needed to the conveyor system after installation, the costs of reconfiguring the outlet locations and the existing electrical lines is expensive. Therefore, while the sorter itself may be easily unbolted from the frame and moved to a new location, the relocating of the power supply is expensive and typically requires specialized expertise.